Comment by pw0ncakes
16 years ago
I had a job like that. I was supposed to use my analysis and creativity to build models for client forecasting, but if they didn't confirm what the brand team wanted to hear, they'd be rejected. It sucked. I was fresh out of school and cared more about getting the right answer than appeasing clients.
I lasted 8 months in that job. No regrets about leaving.
Also, $16k is piss-poor for a severance package in a brand-name consulting firm like BCG. Given the economy and the likelihood of a necessary career change, OP should have asked for 6 months' base (including COBRA) and an "office firing" (you're terminated but can use office resources for the job search and retain the right to represent yourself as employed).
I think I missed the part where he had the leverage to make that kind of demand. Perhaps even the brand-name consulting firms have figured out that ridiculous severance packages don't make a whole lot of sense.
What I'm talking about isn't that ridiculous. Paying 6 months' salary is a small cost compared to the cost of a termination lawsuit or a negative article being written about the firm.
I'm guessing they gave him 2 months pay and nothing for the move back, from Dubai (which is a dangerous place to lose your job, by the way). They also seem to have given him nothing in terms of exit counseling.
To answer the question you raised: his article and the fact that it got published is the leverage he had. I bet it's circulating around BCG right now. It has the potential to be a morale and image problem, and not the Goldman Sachs style of image problem (where people hate GS but consider them good at what they do).
There are rational reasons for firms to pay decent severance packages. It's not just something they do to be nice.